wittenstrom



(No Model.) 2 Shgets-Sheet 1.

0. WITTENSTROM.

CASTING APPARATUS.

1%.. 317,063 A Patented May 5, 1885.

F'AZ I Z 7f Q H ll 1 A ll Mamie. Zrz'varibr- 2 Sheets- Sheet; 2.

(No Model.)

O. WITTENSTROM.

CASTING APPARATUS.

No. 317,063. PatentedMay 5, 1885.

W M AM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL WITTENSTRtlM, OF STOGKHOLM, SWEDEN.

CASTING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,063, dated May 5, 1885.

Application filed April15, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL WITrENs'rRoi/r, engineer, a subject of the King of Sweden,-residing at Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Casting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In casting great numbers of small castings from crucibles, when the iron is very soft or poor in carbon, the metal will soon become thick, and finally solidified, if the crucibles contain more than thirty pounds to be poured out in from ten to twenty molds, It is all the same if the metal is taken from a Siemens- Martin furnace, and will have to be kept some time in a common large ladle, as the casting cannot be made directly from the furnace, because then themetal would have to remain too long in the furnace, whereby it would produce porous, unsound castings. I To obtain good results, especially in casting wrought-iron or soft steel, the metal should be poured when at the right temperature, and quickly and steadily, with an even, full jet, and the jet of metal should be protected from oxidation as it is poured. To get over all these difficulties and to avoid too large a plant of molds, and at the same time shorten the pouring period, I have devised the casting apparatus herein described.

In this invention the proper temperature and fluidity of the metal are maintained during the entire pouring period by providing the ladle or its lid with a large gas-burner or other suitable heating device, whereby the temperature of the metal in the ladle may be maintained. This gas or other flame thus directed into the ladle also serves to protect the jet of molten metal from oxidation, as the flame issues out from the lip or mouth of the ladle and surrounds the jet of metal, so as to protect it from oxidation. In order to pour the metal in a steady, even, full jet, I make the tipping-axis of the ladle to coincide with the edge of the lip, so that the tipping of the ladle does not change the position or direction of the jet. The molds are preferably grouped on a turn-table or movable support, so that they may be quickly brought in succession un der the jet, and the turn-table is mounted upon wheels, so that it also may be quickly removed. In place of mounting the plant of molds upon a turn-table, the ladle itself may be swung in a crane, so as to be moved in succession over the molds. the gas-burner serves to maintain the temperature and fluidity of the metal while it is =-Asin my invention being poured from the ladle, I am enabled to receive the metal from several crucibles and pour it out without any difficulty, and by using several such apparatus it will also be possible to make small castings of the entire charge of a Siemens-Martin furnace, which is impossible with any other ladle known to me.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of such a casting apparatus intended to be suspended in a crane, and thus Fig. 2 is a side I be movable over the molds. view, and Fig. 3 a plan of the ladle. Fig. 4

is a side view of a stationary casting appara- 7o tus, as also of awagon with a revolving upper part or table, to which themolds are attached, or on which they are placed. Fig. 5 shows the apparatus and wagon in plan.

This casting apparatus is so constructed that the tipping-axle of the ladle coincides with the edge of the lip, by which the advantage is attained that the jet does not change position during casting, and makes it easy to pour right into the gate of the mold,which'is a great advantage, as-before mentioned. Furthermore, these castingladles are covered with a lid, in which a large gas-burner is inserted. One arrangement of this burner is shown in section in Fig. 6. The object of i this burner is to heat the ladle by a gas-flame before the casting operation, if desirable, and to keep the metal fluidduring the whole pouring period, and to prevent any cold iron from adhering to the lip of the ladle, and,finally, to proo tect the running metal from being oxidized, because the flame escapes over the lip together with the metal and'surrounds [the latter. If, for reasons of economy,coke or other solid fuel is to be used for heating the ladle 5 before the casting,air only is admitted through the burner to keep up the combustion of this fuel.

ing apparatus, and therein A is the castingladle proper, covered with the lid 13, both made of thin iron plates lined with fire-clay. Both the lid and the ladle haveflanges c c, which unite as shown, and form a hinge at d, for guid- Figs. 1, 2, and 3 illustratethe movable cast- IOO ing thelid when opened for filling the ladle with molten metal. The lid may be opened by means of a loose key threaded over the lugs e on the lid.

f is the gas-burner in the upper part of the lid, to which gas and air (blast) are conducted through flexible tubes attached to the pipes g and h. To completely mix the gas and air they are compelled to pass through a perforated fire-brick, t, fitted into the lower part of the burner. (See Fig.6.) The flame and products of combustion from this burner escape, after heating the ladle and the metal, through the mouth k, formed by lips bulged out half in the ladle and half in the lid.

The ladleA, whichis hinged upon pivots located at Z Z, is supported by two triangular iron frames, at a, united at the back upon a level with the pivots by the connecting-piece 0, on which the ladle rests with the lugs 19 p. The frame-work is held together at the top by a bolt or shaft, (1, passing also through a loop, 7', for the crane-hook s, and between the shanks of this loop a chain-wheel, t, is mounted. On the same shaft q, outside the frame-work, is mounted a worm-wheel, a, in which the worm 1; gears. The axle of this worm is carried in bearings attached to one of the frames m, and is provided with the hand-wheel m. By turning this handwheel :0, the worm o, the wormwheel a, and the chain-wheel t are put in rotation,and the chain y, fixed to the bottom of the ladle A and to the chain-wheel t, is rolled up on the latter, whereby the ladle is tipped with ease and precision.

The flexible tubes through which the gas and the air are conducted to the pipes g and h follow the movements of the crane-postand the gib, and to avoid ruptures the pipes g h are articulated at z. The flexible tubes are provided with common regulating cocks or valves; but these, as well as the way in which the tubes are carried along the crane, are not shown in the drawings.

In the stationary apparatus, Figs. 4 and 5, the ladle A, with its lid B and burner f, is of the same construction as that just described. Gas and air are led separately through the pipes 51 g g g and h h It I; and mingle together in the ascending pipe a, whence they, passing through the pipe 5, enter the burner in the upper part of the lid. The pipes g h are provided with joints at c d, to permit the oscillation of the lid in opening, and similar joints are also provided therein at e f, to permit the tipping of the ladle in pouring. The supply of gas and air is regulated by cocks or valves. (Not shown in the drawings.) The tipping of the ladle is effected here by means of a similar hand-wheel, w, worm c, and wormwheel tr, in connection with two chain-wheels, t t, and two chains, 3 y, fastened to the lower part of the ladle.

g g are counter-weights on the chains to equalize the weight of the ladle.

The lid may be opened by means of a loose key fitting on a bolt, h, fixed in the T-piece of the pipe a.

The ladle, which rests directly on the pipes g h, to which it is attached by four screwthreaded hooks and nuts, i 2', is, together with all its parts, mounted on a frame-work of gaspipes, standing in sockets 7c, fixed to the bedplate l.

The wagon for the molds is made of castiron and mounted on wheels 12, and movable along rails or on the floor. The upper part, 0, of the wagon is revolving, forming a sort of turn-table, upon the circumference of which the molds may be attached in the same way as described and shown in my UnitedlStates Patent N 0. 250,865, of December 13, 1881. Such a mold is to be seen in the drawings at m. The number of molds that can be used depends on the size of the turn-table. The

turn-table rests with a projecting circular rib,

p, on the under side on four wheels, q, mounted in the frame r of the wagon, as seen in the drawings; but this arrangement can, of course, be varied.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination, in a casting apparatus, of a turn-table, having a series of molds ,mounted thereon, with a covered tilting ladle having its pouring-mouth coincident with its tipping-axis, and provided with connections supplying gas and air to the interior above the level of the metal, so that the flame produced within the vessel will issue at its pouringmouth as the pouring is being done, substantially as specified.

2. A covered casting ladle or vessel closed with the exception. of its pouring lip or mouth, both cover and ladle being arranged to be capable of tilting together, and having connections for the supply of gas and air to the interior above thelevel of the metal, and having its pouring lip or mouth located near the top of the vessel-that is to say, about the level of the metal when the pouring is being doneso that the flame produced within the vessel will also issue at the pouring lip or mouth, substantially as specified.

3. A casting ladle or vessel closed with the exception of its pouring lip or mouth, and having connections supplying gas and air to the interior above the level of the metal, producing a flame within the vessel, which issues at the pouring lip or mouth as its only exit, substantially as specified.

4- A covered casting ladle or vessel, both cover and ladle being arranged to be capable of tilting together, having its pouring lip or mouth located at about the level of the metal as the same is being poured, and provided with connectionssupplying gas and air to the interior above the level of the metal, so that the flame produced within the vessel will issue at the pouring lip or mouth as the pouring is being done to protect the stream of molten metal, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the ladle A and its lid B, hinged thereto, the burner ffproject- 7. The combination of a supporting-frame ing through said lid, and the air and gas pipes with a covered tilting ladle, hinged thereto by g h, communicating with said burner, substanpivots Z Z, and having a pouring-lip coincitially as specified. dent with said pivots, chain y, wheel as, worm- 15 6. A covered tilting ladle or vessel having wheel u, and worm o, for tilting said ladle, its pouring lip or mouth coincident with its substantially as specified. tipping-axis, and provided with connections CARL WITTENSTROM. for supplying gas and air to the interior above Witnesses: I

the level of the metal, so that the'fiame pro- I ALBERT NlLssoN, -10 duced within the vessel will issue at its pour- J. F. BAOKLUND,

ing-mouth, substantially as specified. Both of Stockholm. 

